CHINGLISH, THE WHALE, THE PARISIAN WOMAN and More Set for South Coast Rep, Feb-May 2013

South Coast Rep has announced its schedule of performances from February - May 2013. Details below.

FEBRUARY 2013

Through Feb. 24 - Segerstrom Stage

CHINGLISH

By David Henry HwangDirected by Leigh Silverman

Daniel's sign-making company is in trouble, but he has a great idea: score a fat contract in China, where signs for English-speaking tourists are mangled by hilarious mis-translations. But he forgets the first rule: always bring your own translator because business deals involve much more than wining and dining. And when Daniel falls in love with a beautiful bureaucrat, even feelings take on different meanings. The repartee is fast and funny, and the timing is spot-on in this East-West comedy that embraces both sides of the cultural divide. A co-production with Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

Ten-year-old Anastasia is opinionated, sassy and funny. Really funny. Of course, she also has a funny name, but she'll make up for it in this offbeat story taken right from the pages of her diary. It's about all the things she loves-and hates-and what she plans to do about them. This memorable story from the Newbery Medal-winning author of "The Giver" is a wonderful portrait of childhood and family life, complete with all its ups and downs.

The world's greatest work of counterfeit Greek erotica! At the turn of the 20th-century, Pierre Louys captured the imaginations and libidos of the literary world after penning an extensive collection of exquisite and sensuous poetry by a fabricated Greek courtesan named "Bilitis;" it held a false place in the canon of classical Greek erotic literature for nearly 10 years. Songs of Bilitis combines multi-media projections and video with puppetry, movement and mask work, as the Rogues explore how a flamboyant avant-garde Parisian novelist successfully impersonated a Sapphic Greek poet in the most erotically elaborate literary hoax the world has ever known. Note: Contains nudity and adult language.

SCRamble returns with a night that boldly blends alternative theatre, comedy, dance, music and interdisciplinary collaborations as some of SoCal's most interesting artists serve up unforgettable theatrical delights in 10-minute increments. Sample these great works in one evening for one great price.

Theatre Movement Bazaar, creators of last year's Anton's Uncles, investigates Chekhov's famous play, Three Sisters. In, Track 3, the characters are stranded, waiting and wanting something outside of themselves to give them happiness. They are on the modern hero's journey, not to Moscow, as they hoped, but a journey within. Movement, dance, song and humor derail the play from its Victorian origins and set the itinerary for a 21st-century existential extravaganza.

Charlie is different from most of us. He's an online writing teacher with one friend, a nurse who nearly kills him with kindness, and one acquaintance, a troubled young missionary who's determined to rescue his soul. He's in bad health but refuses to be hospitalized. And, he weighs 600 pounds. When his estranged daughter turns up suddenly, Charlie makes a deal to buy her time, if not her affections. He hopes their connection will give her life-and his-meaning at last.

This endearing fantasia tells the story of three generations of an eccentric Midwestern family on the verge of big changes. Two new souls are about to enter the world. Time present, time past and time future mingle and converge as family members await the arrival of Violet's twin babies. The promise of new life is in the air-but so is the inevitability of change and loss. Magical and tragic, funny and forlorn, paradoxical and profound, Haidle's tale offers a lyrical meditation on the mystery and fragility of life. A world premiere co-production with Goodman Theatre, Chicago, Illinois.

One of America's hottest young writers, whose play Farragut North won rave reviews before hitting the screen as the Oscar-nominated Ides of March, Beau Willimon sets his new play in the Capitol Hill section of Washington, D.C., where powerful friends are the only kind worth having. This re-telling of a scandalous French comedy about bad conduct in high places is swift, savvy and impossible to resist. Tom is a lawyer in the private sector, with his sights on a government job. Chloe is beautiful, bright and bored. But she has a passionate side, and it has nothing to do with her love affairs. How far will they go to achieve political stardom?

The Pacific Playwrights Festival) annually presents seven new plays in staged readings and full productions during a three-day period. Audiences consist of local playgoers and representatives from theatres nationwide. PPF provides a gathering place for writers and theatre professionals to connect and share ideas and interests in the context of a festival that promotes the latest and best in American playwriting.

Music by Harvey SchmidtBook and lyrics by Tom JonesDirected by Amanda Dehnert

A carnival midway of magic, mischief and theatrical thrills! Amanda Dehnert, celebrated throughout the American theatre for re-imagining classics, has added a multitude of visual delights and fantastical illusions to the original charm and beautiful ballads (like the haunting "Try to Remember") of The Fantasticks. When two scheming fathers conspire with the mysterious El Gallo to keep their daughter and son apart (to be sure they'll fall in love!) the dewy-eyed lovers venture into the real world. But as fantasy turns to reality, El Gallo is there to remind them that "without the hurt, the heart is hollow" in one of the most popular musicals of all time, which the Washington Post calls, "Fresh and alive again."

Adapted by John GloreFrom the book by Laura Amy SchlitzDirected by Oanh Nguyen

Flory is a fairy no taller than an acorn, who loses her exquisite wings in a fight with a bat, falls into the garden of a "Giantess" and takes up residence in a birdhouse. This magical story from a Newbery Medal winner is as visually bewitching as the night fairy herself. But Flory is as fierce and ferocious as she is elegant, and she's about to discover that she needs every drop of bravery-and equal amounts of understanding and compassion-in her new life among the daylight creatures.

DJ Jupiter Jack has hosted KTSH's Fourth of July broadcast for 28 years. Until now. Pushed out by two shock jocks and the increasing corporatization of his station, Jack finds himself examining the state of America and his career while he's on the air. As Jack spins tracks about the U.S. of A., we see each one as a sketch or song performed live onstage by actors and a band. The resulting collage is part comedy show, part rock concert, and part intimate journey through the mind of a man who is grappling with a changing America.

Time: May 2 at 7 p.m.; May 3 at 8 p.m.; May 4 at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.; May 5 at 3 p.m.

Summer Acting Workshop is a two-week introduction to theatre for students new to SCR. Kids and teens build self-esteem and confidence and make new friends within their peer groups (grades 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 and 9-12). Each day begins with an invigorating all-camp warm-up. Class time follows, as students join their age groups for two lively hours of interactive instruction in voice, movement, character development and more-led by SCR's staff of theatre professionals. The final hour is spent with special guests who bring to life various aspects of theatre, such as design, improvisation, combat, singing and playwriting-something different every day. The two-week program concludes with students sharing their work onstage in a demonstration project for invited family and friends.

Students 18 and over choose from a variety of classes developed to suit individual pace and interests. Courses range from Improvisation to Fundamentals of Acting to Actors Workshop for career-minded students, as well as two levels of playwriting. Many sessions also include Acting for the Camera and Musical Theatre. Classes meet weekly 7-10 p.m. Call (714) 708-5510 for schedule.

Tuition: $295 per 8-week session.

THE NIGHTINGALE

Story by Hans Christian Anderson

Adapted for the stage by Marisha Chamberlain

Directed by Mercy Vasquez

In ancient China, the Lord High Emperor rules from his porcelain palace where gardens stretch to the sea and flowers bloom underwater. In the forest far away, a nightingale sings. The Emperor hears about her beautiful song and sends his kitchen servant, Wu Ling, to bring the bird to the palace, where she's told to sing forever. Then one day a jeweled mechanical bird takes her place, and the nightingale, forgotten, flies away. Soon, the jeweled bird, like all mechanical things breaks, the Emperor grows ill and longs for the beautiful song of his real nightingale. But even emperors must learn that birds have to be free to come and go, sharing their songs with everyone.

SCR's Junior Players, chosen by audition after at least two years in the Theatre Conservatory, portray all the characters-and three different girls play Wu Ling.

Discounts for previews, patrons ages 25-years- and-younger, full-time students and educators with valid ID, seniors, and groups of 10 or more (at most performances). SCR also offers Today Tix, special ticket bargains on the day of performance only and subject to availability. Patrons 25-years-old-and-under and full-time students get $10 Rush Tix the day of performance, subject to availability. Patrons age 15-to-25 may also sign up for a free MyStage membership to receive $10 tickets to any performance. Details here: http://www.scr.org/tickets/mystage.aspx.

Ticket Services Office: By phone at (714) 708-5555, online at www.scr.org or in person at 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, Calif.